Episode 154: Closing out 2018 and a Forward Glance at 2019

On today’s show I review a few highlights and low lights from my 2018 travels. I logged over 15.5K miles and spent 98 nights in my trailer. I set out to do more boondocking, stay longer in one place and to do some more extended “solo woman traveling.” It was a wonderful year and I am thrilled with what I accomplished.

I had a lot of fun in 2018, almost too much fun. My travel schedule was exhausting at times and I felt I was away from my family too much. When trip planning it can be easy to get caught up in the wonder of far away places thinking they’re easily accessible by only a three day drive. It’s always fun getting there but not always fun getting back.

In April I traveled from NJ to Texas on a five week trip and came home via North Carolina. In June I headed to Colorado for close to a month. I switched trailers and drove to Michigan’s beautiful Upper PI in July. I was off to Maine in August to tour beautiful Acadia National Park. I spent September roaming around Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana and finished off the year with a two week trip to Stone Mountain in Georgia and then Alabama in October.

Although I loved all of my adventures I am planning on staying a lot closer to home in 2019. I want to camp more often with the friends I used to camp with in the past. I want to drive less! I want to really get to know Smokey Mountain National Park. I want to experience travel in a motor home.I want to get my husband out there more and reacquaint myself with old hobbies.

Because of all the things I want to do I am going to have to change some things that slow me down, starting with my health. I am dedicating 2019 to Transforming. That will be the theme of our Podcast this year, and I do mean “our” podcast. We have become a community of friends that help and encourage each other. That is why when I think of all of those who have written to me and have been following along for three years now but, still have not taken the leap into Girl Camping, I feel I’ve let you down in some way. There’s been a gap in our help and coverage. We used Year One to look at Overcoming the Obstacles to Being a Girl Camper by delving into the fears and misconceptions about women solo camping. We dedicated Year Two of the Podcast to Becoming a Girl Camper, covering all of the technical stuff, GVWR and Weight Distribution Hitches! Last year we looked at Finding the Right RV for you, studying the pros and cons of everything the RV industry offers. What was left to be said that hadn’t been said? It was boiling down to one thing – emotional baggage. There are things that stall us or slow us down and stop us from doing the things we deeply desire doing. It is time to look at how we can overcome those things and that is why I chose Transforming in 2019 as the Podcast theme for the coming year.

MORE OF THIS PLEASE!!!

I am kicking off our year of Transforming with a five part series with Transformation Expert Bob Thompson, In our five mini episodes in January we will explore five areas that need to be looked at if we intend to stick to any of our New Years resolutions.

We will start with The Mind Game. What state of mind do we need to be in to succeed and how do we get there if we have the desire but not the will?

In Part Two we will look at how we can Identify the Stumbling Blocks. What if we are hanging on to an old core belief that we can’t shake? What if we are sabotaging our own success?

In Week Three we will look at how to Create an Action Plan for Success. They say to achieve you must have a plan and work the plan to achieve a goal but how do you make the plan? What elements should the plan have in order to work?

In Week Four we will explore how to Deal with Setbacks. They are going to happen, The road to true love and success never does run smooth! What we do when we hit a setback can put us back on the road to success or land us at square one again.

In our last episode in the series we will look at ways to Stay in the Long Game. Anything we are trying to achieve will take discipline and perseverance. It’s going to be a marathon, not a sprint. What attitude should we be cultivating to not just achieve our desired goal, but to change the way we think forever? How can we get rid of what doesn’t work for us but hang on to what does? How do we keep from slipping back into old habits?

Bob Thompson transforms lives through fitness at his Legion Transformation Centers, He helps people get a handle on their health, nutrition, attitude and as a result their weight, their finances, the clutter in their lives. The principles he shares can be applied to anything we hope to achieve whether it is making 2019 the year we finally become a Girl Camper or the year we get a handle on clutter or pay off the credit cards or, like me, get off the extra weight and become more physically healthy. I hope you will join us in making 2019 the year of transforming.